Hello Readers (the very very few of you),
I just want to write a quick review of Adrive.com
It is still in beta, but they have very few little kinks to work out.
They offer 50GB of space just with email sign-up. No offers, coupons, plans, combos, or anything of that sort.It is pretty much the best thing out there in my opinion due to the following features.
- 2gb upload limit on single file
- able to upload multiple files
- no limit on either download or upload speed (therefore it is only limited by your ISP connection or traffic)
- Ability to share file much like Google DOCS where it generates a unique link for every file you choose to share
Every other site of this type that I know of has speed limits and very low upload limit s for single files (on the order of 100-500 MB). One very minor issue that they should work out is their upload program. It is not like other websites where you have to download a separate program, but rather it is a java application that runs in the browser. Therefore, you must have a java virtual machine installed on your computer. Also, if you are using firefox or opera (or any other browser that uses tabs), it locks up all the tabs in the window where you are uploading files. Very minor issue because you can just open a new window and upload there.
Overall, great product. Jump on it before they stop giving out free accounts.
--Shaurav
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The music hitchhikers guide to pandora
Hi all,
So, I was talking to one of my friends about things in general and music came up in our little smalltalk over AIM. One thing that disturbed me was that he was not familiar with Pandora. I thought Pandora had existed long enough that writing a post on it would be worthless, but I have changed my mind.
Pandora is much like a radio, where you have some influence on the kind of songs you get to listen to, but not absolute power to pick any one song that you want to hear at the moment. Now, I know that sounds lame. But the beauty of Pandora is that it forces you to listen to new and upcoming artists that you may have never heard about or listened to before.
For example, you can create a station called "Linkin Park". Now when you select that station to play, it will pick among its database songs that are by Linking Park and songs that other artists whose musical characteristics match closely to that of Linkin Park's music. That is why Pandora refers to itself as the Music Genome Project. I personally have found some great artists this way. The streaming and interface is extremely well done. It does allow you to pay money to buy the song, but never in way forces you to do so.
If you create an account, it keeps track of songs you like and plays them more often. I have had an account for a quite a while now, and I have experienced no spam or ads from them whatsoever.
So, guys its 10/10 from me to them. Hit them up: www.pandora.com
So, I was talking to one of my friends about things in general and music came up in our little smalltalk over AIM. One thing that disturbed me was that he was not familiar with Pandora. I thought Pandora had existed long enough that writing a post on it would be worthless, but I have changed my mind.
Pandora is much like a radio, where you have some influence on the kind of songs you get to listen to, but not absolute power to pick any one song that you want to hear at the moment. Now, I know that sounds lame. But the beauty of Pandora is that it forces you to listen to new and upcoming artists that you may have never heard about or listened to before.
For example, you can create a station called "Linkin Park". Now when you select that station to play, it will pick among its database songs that are by Linking Park and songs that other artists whose musical characteristics match closely to that of Linkin Park's music. That is why Pandora refers to itself as the Music Genome Project. I personally have found some great artists this way. The streaming and interface is extremely well done. It does allow you to pay money to buy the song, but never in way forces you to do so.
If you create an account, it keeps track of songs you like and plays them more often. I have had an account for a quite a while now, and I have experienced no spam or ads from them whatsoever.
So, guys its 10/10 from me to them. Hit them up: www.pandora.com
Reference to another good post
Hi All,
I am just providing a link to a good post by one of my friends.
Its about the Google Reader. It is a must read if you use Google Reader:
http://samarkamat.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/speed-up-long-post-load-times-in-google-reader/
--Shaurav
I am just providing a link to a good post by one of my friends.
Its about the Google Reader. It is a must read if you use Google Reader:
http://samarkamat.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/speed-up-long-post-load-times-in-google-reader/
--Shaurav
Google Docs move closer to perfection
Hi all,
I know some of you will be quick in labeling me as a Google fan, Googlite, Google-whore, whatever other terms there are right now. But, this is more of a genuine appreciation of a company which has consistently tried to make things easier for its users rather than harder like some companies (*cough* M----soft *cough*). Just recently, Google Docs had a complete overhaul of its User Interface. The new look is much like MS Word with a toolbar on the top, but less bugs..
All the menus at the top are much clearer than before. None of the features are hidden or hard to use as there were before. For example, spell check was quite elusive, but now is much more apparent. Combine that with amazing features such as real time group editing, version control, revision saving, and you got yourself a very powerful and lightweight Office Suite.
P.S. For those of you who did not know, each of your documents is constantly saved at regular intervals. Now unlike Word, these saves are not overwritten, but rather are saved separately. So you can always go back and find a earlier version of your document. Quite a useful feature if you ask me.
Also, a link to Google's annoucement: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-toolbar-and-menus.html
Thats all for now,
Shaurav
I know some of you will be quick in labeling me as a Google fan, Googlite, Google-whore, whatever other terms there are right now. But, this is more of a genuine appreciation of a company which has consistently tried to make things easier for its users rather than harder like some companies (*cough* M----soft *cough*). Just recently, Google Docs had a complete overhaul of its User Interface. The new look is much like MS Word with a toolbar on the top, but less bugs..
All the menus at the top are much clearer than before. None of the features are hidden or hard to use as there were before. For example, spell check was quite elusive, but now is much more apparent. Combine that with amazing features such as real time group editing, version control, revision saving, and you got yourself a very powerful and lightweight Office Suite.
P.S. For those of you who did not know, each of your documents is constantly saved at regular intervals. Now unlike Word, these saves are not overwritten, but rather are saved separately. So you can always go back and find a earlier version of your document. Quite a useful feature if you ask me.
Also, a link to Google's annoucement: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-toolbar-and-menus.html
Thats all for now,
Shaurav
Flickrvision
Hi all,
Sorry for the really long gap between posts. Things got a bit hectic. I want to write about this amazing website www.flickrvision.com/maps/show_3d
Some of you might know about this already, but the flickrvision site has released a new 3d version which has an interface which is much like Google Earth and it shows you fairly real time photo posts on the Globe by location, photo and user. An amazing little website for those of you who frequently go through Digg or Reddit trying to find funny or good pictures. I would highly recommed it.
Expect many many articles this week.
peace,
Shaurav
Sorry for the really long gap between posts. Things got a bit hectic. I want to write about this amazing website www.flickrvision.com/maps/show_3d
Some of you might know about this already, but the flickrvision site has released a new 3d version which has an interface which is much like Google Earth and it shows you fairly real time photo posts on the Globe by location, photo and user. An amazing little website for those of you who frequently go through Digg or Reddit trying to find funny or good pictures. I would highly recommed it.
Expect many many articles this week.
peace,
Shaurav
Monday, March 10, 2008
hobos
Hi everybody,
Today I am going to write a more personal post. I had long not cared about the various homeless people that I saw on the streets (I live in nyc, so there are lots of them). Like many people, I believed that those people are there because they are bums and they are lazy. But today I realized something important by putting myself in the shoes of a homeless guy.
I came up with a situation where I could also easily fall into this trap.
Here it is: I am a college student that has a lot of loans (which is actually true =/ ). I get lazy or there is a huge recession, and I am unable to find a job or a place to live (Average rent in manhattan is close to 1000$/month for single room while having roommates). So I am homeless now.
After a a couple months, I finally realize I am ruining my life and want to change things. So, out of desperation, I try to get a job at some local business(grocery store, something related to my engineering degree) . I fill out their application, but leave the address and phone field blank because I have none. So either I have to keep checking in to every place I apply to or get a phone. Both of these things I cannot do because of the obvious lack of money.
So, I go try somewhere easier, lets say McDonalds. I get turned down because of the couple months of not being able to maintain a clean hygiene. Obviously nobody will eat a BigMac that was made or even touched with gloves by a unshaven, long hair, smelley guy. But, I get lucky, some KFC out there dont give a damn on who they hire as long as they are okay with min. wage.
So now I am excited. I will finally come out of this crappy hobo life. I go to my first day of work in completely shoddy clothing and hungry. I am allowed one meal per shift. So i greedily eat that meal and work all day and make (8 hrs * 6.50 = 52 bucks) . I kept this up for two weeks and make 208 dollars minus taxes. Hmmm, that is about 1/5 of average rent in Manhattan or about 1/3 in some shadier parts of nyc. My monthly payment for my loans is around 200 dollars. So not only do I get nowhere, I worked two weeks on a single meal a day (ouch!!).
... I wont finish the story. But damn, its hard to be a hobo.
I realize I got to my theoretical position by my own laziness, but do I really deserve to be stuck homeless just for one bad decision in my whole life.
Think about this the next time you see a hobo. Remember they are people like us. I still do not support charity and welfare (especially random quarters that are thrown at them) but I would like to see something big done for them by whole communities. Dont catch a fish for them, but enable them to be able to catch a fish again by themselves.
Peace,
Shaurav
Today I am going to write a more personal post. I had long not cared about the various homeless people that I saw on the streets (I live in nyc, so there are lots of them). Like many people, I believed that those people are there because they are bums and they are lazy. But today I realized something important by putting myself in the shoes of a homeless guy.
I came up with a situation where I could also easily fall into this trap.
Here it is: I am a college student that has a lot of loans (which is actually true =/ ). I get lazy or there is a huge recession, and I am unable to find a job or a place to live (Average rent in manhattan is close to 1000$/month for single room while having roommates). So I am homeless now.
After a a couple months, I finally realize I am ruining my life and want to change things. So, out of desperation, I try to get a job at some local business(grocery store, something related to my engineering degree) . I fill out their application, but leave the address and phone field blank because I have none. So either I have to keep checking in to every place I apply to or get a phone. Both of these things I cannot do because of the obvious lack of money.
So, I go try somewhere easier, lets say McDonalds. I get turned down because of the couple months of not being able to maintain a clean hygiene. Obviously nobody will eat a BigMac that was made or even touched with gloves by a unshaven, long hair, smelley guy. But, I get lucky, some KFC out there dont give a damn on who they hire as long as they are okay with min. wage.
So now I am excited. I will finally come out of this crappy hobo life. I go to my first day of work in completely shoddy clothing and hungry. I am allowed one meal per shift. So i greedily eat that meal and work all day and make (8 hrs * 6.50 = 52 bucks) . I kept this up for two weeks and make 208 dollars minus taxes. Hmmm, that is about 1/5 of average rent in Manhattan or about 1/3 in some shadier parts of nyc. My monthly payment for my loans is around 200 dollars. So not only do I get nowhere, I worked two weeks on a single meal a day (ouch!!).
... I wont finish the story. But damn, its hard to be a hobo.
I realize I got to my theoretical position by my own laziness, but do I really deserve to be stuck homeless just for one bad decision in my whole life.
Think about this the next time you see a hobo. Remember they are people like us. I still do not support charity and welfare (especially random quarters that are thrown at them) but I would like to see something big done for them by whole communities. Dont catch a fish for them, but enable them to be able to catch a fish again by themselves.
Peace,
Shaurav
The Obama Wave
Hi all,
I am not able to fall asleep so I am writing the first thing that came to my mind: OBAMA!! or for some of you haters: OSAMA!!!
So what is it that makes me write about him?
It is not his extremely well developed oratory skills or the fact that he is black or the fact that he is young or the fact that I hate Hillary.
There are two main reasons:
1) He is relying on mass donor money rather than lobbyist money. What it means for us: No more will our president be caged by the lobbyist hounds. That means no more corporate democracy. That means paving the way for a new and more real democratic process. That means we as Americans will (might) finally have a say in our political system. Who wouldn't like that??
2) A Obama vs. McCain presidential election is just what the country needs. Both men have been known to defy their political lines in some part of their career. What it means for us: no more 50% - 50% split on every single mass polling. A renewed interest and trust in American politics. A better economy (in my opinion) because a renewed interest in the nation will boost productivity and confidence level which will boost the economy. Yes, these are two great factors of the economy.
So, love my rant about Obama? Comment heavily please, I want to know what people think of him out there without filtering through mainstream media!!
I am not able to fall asleep so I am writing the first thing that came to my mind: OBAMA!! or for some of you haters: OSAMA!!!
So what is it that makes me write about him?
It is not his extremely well developed oratory skills or the fact that he is black or the fact that he is young or the fact that I hate Hillary.
There are two main reasons:
1) He is relying on mass donor money rather than lobbyist money. What it means for us: No more will our president be caged by the lobbyist hounds. That means no more corporate democracy. That means paving the way for a new and more real democratic process. That means we as Americans will (might) finally have a say in our political system. Who wouldn't like that??
2) A Obama vs. McCain presidential election is just what the country needs. Both men have been known to defy their political lines in some part of their career. What it means for us: no more 50% - 50% split on every single mass polling. A renewed interest and trust in American politics. A better economy (in my opinion) because a renewed interest in the nation will boost productivity and confidence level which will boost the economy. Yes, these are two great factors of the economy.
So, love my rant about Obama? Comment heavily please, I want to know what people think of him out there without filtering through mainstream media!!
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